What's for Dinner, Sun., Sept. 25, 2016

[NJCher]

Stuffed green peppers. I’m stuffing them with chicken chorizo sausage and chopped vegetables and topping them with cheese and herbs.

Salad will be tomato/basil/mozzarella with balsamic dressing.

Dessert is a slice of raspberry cheesecake.

Probably a wine spritzer made with white wine, sparkling water, and blueberry-pomegranate juice.

Wonder what culinary adventures Galileo is up to on his vacation!



Cher

[LaydeeBug]

1. NJCher, that sounds soooo good

I am making chicken enchiladas. I made a rotisserie chicken last night (aside: I could spit tie a bird before i could ride a two wheeler. True story) so I am making that out of the leftovers. I've never made them before, so wish me luck!

[Yonnie3]

2. Here it will be home made navy bean soup with a bit of ham

and salad with some goat cheese.

Nothing fancy, just comfort food.

[japple]

3. Beef brisket, mashed potatoes, field peas, and steamed broccoli.

Also a salad with red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Sad to say the homegrown tomatoes and bell peppers are dwindling, and I hate to think of having to depend on store bought produce until next summer. The good thing is that our local Aldi store has lovely greenhouse heirloom tomatoes from Canada that taste pretty good.

Temperatures for the past few days, here in Georgia, have been in the 92-99 degree range, with lows in the 60-70 range at night. Our forecast is for something really exciting towards the end of this week: Highs in the 80s and lows in the mid-50s. I only wish we could get some accompanying moisture. My county has been moved from a severe drought classification to an extreme drought class. Our small lawn is mostly dead and we will probably be sweeping the dirt in the front yard with a broom by next summer.

[NJCher]

4. Here's a thought for you for next year

This will keep you in tomatoes, basil, etc. for a while longer. I seed a second crop of tomatoes, beans , cukes, basil, and all kinds of other warm weather crops in early July. By the time the cooler weather hits, they are just ready to produce and because they are young plants, they are stronger and able to withstand the cooler fall temps. In addition, of course, I plant my regular fall plants in late July, like spinach, etc.

If the temps get too cool, I have all kinds of plant covers to help out. What's so nice about having the plant covers is that it's usually the case that there's a frost followed by plenty of nice days. If you can just get them through the one cold night, you can enjoy them for a lot longer.

Now, i know a lot of people won't go to that trouble but I'll do about anything for my plants. It's so hard to say goodbye to them. I nurse many of them through the winter in the sunny rooms of my home.

I sympathize with the drought. Been through it myself. It's horrible watching all the plants and trees so in need of water. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I spent a lot of time harvesting laundry water, etc., and trucking it out to my trees.

Impressive that your Aldi has heirlooms!


Cher

[japple]

5. In normal years, we do plant again in August for a late fall harvest and

for things that will winter-over. Unfortunately, with the extreme drought in our area, we cannot do that this year. If we get lucky in the next few months and have more than expected rainfall, we might plant kale, mustard or turnip greens for food or Austrian winter peas as a cover crop.

ETA: The drought is so severe that we are in danger of losing trees and shrubs around our home. The dogwoods appear to be greatly stressed. We are saving grey water from our household just to be able to water some of the native species that we have been planting around our land--milkweeds, hollies, viburnum and others that feed the pollinators.

We are going to get rain barrels next year! We realize that the runoff from our roof is too valuable to waste. I think we need to start learning from our friends in the arid regions of the US.

[pscot]

6. Slow roasted duck

with potatoes root veggies and sauerkraut. Greasy but good.

[dem in texas]

7. Chicken Fried Steak - Real Texas Food

Made some chicken fried steak fingers the old fashioned way. Strips of round steak, pounded until tender. Dipped in egg and milk wash and then in well seasoned flour. Fried in a little hot oil. Pulled out all the stops and made some cream gravy. Served with mashed potatoes and fresh from the market green beans sauted with a little butter and garlic. Sliced a big ripe East Texas tomato.

Had some cream and some half and half plus a little buttermilk in the fridge, not enough of each to use for a recipes, so I mixed all with a can on condensed milk and made some vanilla ice cream which I served with sliced strawberries and bananas, drizzled with a little chocolate syrup on top.

[japple]

8. Your description made my mouth water. Sounds like the way my late

Aunt Ida in Seguin made chicken fried steak. It was de-licious.

[dem in texas]

9. Seguin Brings back memories

We used to go down to camp on a ranch near Seguin. It was on the Guadalupe river and we'd catch catfish. They were the best wild caught catfish ever, almost like trout as they fed on the limestone rock on the river bottom.

[japple]

10. The Guadalupe is a beautiful river. We go to Seguin often and love

to go anywhere on the river. The color is almost always so beautiful. Love the Pedernales as well. So many things to love about Texas!